The 2017 season will be for the first for Malcolm Agnew as the running backs coach at the University of North Dakota. Agnew's addition rounded out the coaching staff for the upcoming season.

Agnew will inherit a position unit that had a pair of All-Big Sky performers in 2016 and has helped UND's ground attack register back-to-back seasons with 2,500-plus rushing yards.

"We are looking forward to having Malcolm join our staff here at North Dakota," Schweigert said. " He is an impressive young man that played running back at both the FBS and FCS levels.

"He has already developed strong recruiting ties in the Midwest and Canada since graduating, and coupled with his knowledge of the running back position, will be a great fit for us here in Grand Forks."

Agnew spent just over the past year working on Mike Riley's staff at Nebraska as a personal assistant where he focused on the Cornhuskers' recruiting efforts.

"I'm excited and thankful for the opportunity Coach Schweigert has provided me to join his staff at North Dakota," Agnew said. "After my playing career got cut short by injury, I knew I wanted to get into coaching and to be able to join a program that has a winning culture, great facilities and is on the rise in the FCS was a no-brainer."

Agnew spent his first two seasons as a collegian playing for Riley at Oregon State in 2011 and 2012. After rushing for more than 600 yards in two seasons with the Beavers, Agnew transferred to Southern Illinois where he played his final two collegiate seasons. He amassed 1,708 rushing yards for the Salukis and was on the 2013 roster during Schweigert's final season as the program's defensive coordinator.

He arrived in Lincoln during the spring of 2016 after coaching running backs and special teams at his alma mater, De Smet Jesuit High School, in St. Louis, Mo., in the fall of 2015. He also spent time with the Los Angeles Rams as a volunteer scouting assistant for seven months before taking on his role at Nebraska.

His father, Ray Agnew, played 11 seasons in the National Football League and won a Super Bowl with the St. Louis Rams in 1999 and has been working for the organization since his retirement in 2000 (scouting since 2005). Agnew's brother, Ray III, also played at SIU during Schweigert's tenure (2010-13) and had a brief stint in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns (2014), Dallas Cowboys (2015) and Washington Redskins (2015).

Agnew signed an NFL free agent contract with the Green Bay Packers in 2015, but was forced to end his playing career due to injury. He earned his bachelor's degree from SIU in radio, television and digital media with a minor in marketing following the 2015 spring semester.